Way back in 1978, playwright Terrance McNally wrote a comedy about a group of actors and others hanging out with a playwright and producer as they await opening night reviews of a new Broadway show. He could not have known back then when he wrapped-up initial work on the script for It’s Only a Play, that he would still be working on it over 35 years later. The comedy opened in Philadelphia in 1979 under the title Broadway, Broadway. A few years later a revised version of the play bearing the current title opened off-off Broadway. Then there was an Off-Broadway production. Then a Broadway production. The Broadway premiere of the play didn’t happen until just a couple of years ago in 2014. So it’s been a long journey. McNally revised it for an fresh update. And now, only a couple of years later, it’s being staged locally in the intimate space of the Off The Wall Theatre.
Dale Gutzman directs the Midwest debut of the show, which features a rather nicely-assembled cast including Randall Anderson, Marilyn White, Laura Monagle, Patrick McCann, Jeremy C. Welter, Lawrence Lukasavage. Mark Hagen plays the author.
Off the Wall’s production of It’s Only a Play runs Apr. 28 - May 8 at Off the Wall’s space on 127 E. Wells St. For tickets and more, call 414-484-8874 or visit Off the Wall online.
